Not Quite the Silver Bullet

A Growth Policy for Flathead County

By Kate Downen, 6-14-06

The Flathead County Planning and Zoning Office has been working on a new Flathead County Growth Policy since late last year, holding public meetings, accumulating public input and mashing it all together into something that hopes to guide growth in the Flathead. State law requires that counties have growth policies, although the text within does not mandate or make policy. The new document will replace a 20 year-old growth policy, undoubtedly obsolete in the face of Valley population explosion in the past 20 years.

As long as we're talking population, in Flathead County it grew 26% between 1990 and 2000, led by an influx of new residents. Between 2000 and 2005, it is estimated that Flathead County’s population increased by 11.7%, for an estimated count of 83,172 residents in 2005. It's not expected to stop. In fact, it's expected to increase by at least 2% each year.

The October 1 Flathead Growth Policy adoption deadline is quickly approaching. A draft of the growth policy's outline, which was written based on public comment, features seven elements of the public's vision for the Flathead:

1. Protect the views
2. Promote a diverse economy
3. Minimize traffic
4. Maintain identity of rural communities
5. Protect access to and interaction with parks and recreation
6. Properly manage and protect the natural and human environment
7. Preserve the rights of private property owners

We love our small-town identities, beautiful views and magnificent outdoors. We hate traffic. We hate ugly and we can't stand too much concrete. Enter the paradigm: small-town identities and beautiful views attract more people, our population increases and we encounter the threat of losing the reasons for loving it here.

An example of the paradigm at work: A new proposed development called the Riverdale subdivision is a 3,800-acre development that would cover about 3 miles of undeveloped property, much of it farmland for wheat and barley, between Kalispell and Whitefish on Highway 93. The Missoulian reported that Riverdale would sprout some 3,100 homes and 320 acres of commercial business on that stretch of land. With Kalispell's population at somewhere around 17,000 and Whitefish and Columbia Falls's combined populations reaching just under 11,000, Riverdale would be a major addition to Flathead County.

For some, that's scary. Michael Jamison's article in the Missoulian examined the story of farmer Hank Galpin who's been farming in the Valley since the 1970s. Farming is a losing business and Galpin, though not exactly thrilled about it, is selling his land to a real estate developer-- the Riverdale developer.

Riverdale has already seen a lot of criticism. But even Galpin sees it as a possibility for accomplishing what he sees as the good kind of growth. Selling off land parcel by parcel could mean a messy sprawl, but Galpin thinks Riverdale might be a way to do things according to a bigger, better plan.

For every person agreeing with Galpin, there's the same number of dissenters. "Good growth" sounds nice, but it means something different to everyone. That's why the process of putting together the county growth policy has undoubtedly been arduous.

The Flathead County Planning and Zoning Office has been doing its best to reconcile desires like "tougher regulations on subdivisions" with "adequate affordable housing" and "discourage slumlords. Burn the old mobile homes in the Canyon." And I'm not sure what they're going to do with this one: "1/2 % growth after that get in line."

A new growth policy will be a great guideline, but it isn't going to solve all of our problems. Subdivision dilemmas, farmland losses, open space debates and water quality issues will continue. BJ Grieve, the Flathead County Planning Office's Assistant Director, explains that "the growth policy is like a Constitution. Land use planning--like laws based on the Constitution--is based on the growth policy."

Come October when this thing is all finished, get ready: the real work begins.

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